This invention relates to a furniture article which may be used as a bench or a table by adjusting the attitude of the table top to serve as a bench back. More particularly, the invention relates to a method of fastening the table top in either a horizontal or tilted position in such a manner that the table top is completely stable at any chosen attitude.
Picnic benches having table tops which pivot for use as a back for the bench have been well-known for many years. When configured in the table mode, two of these units may be placed back-to-back to form a full-sized picnic table having bench seats on each side. Examples of patents disclosing various embodiments of convertible bench/tables are as follows: Greenstreet, U.S. Pat. No. 1,792,737, Loosen, U.S. Pat. No. 2,481,935, Koenig, U.S. Pat. No. 2,561,703, Anderson, U.S. Pat. No. 2,882,957, Lakin, U.S. Pat. No. 2,959,209, McCaw, U.S. Pat. No. 2,506,606, Johnston, U.S. Pat. No. 2,922,463, and Lepper, U.S. Pat. No. 2,856,985. Most of these patents relate to the specific construction of the convertible bench/table, and are particularly concerned with the method by which the table top is pivoted into the bench back position, and the fastening apparatus for holding the table top in the desired attitude. In the past none of the designs have been commercially successful principally because the stop mechanisms to maintain the table top in a horizontal position have been either inadequately designed, or designed in such a manner as to create instability in the top due to wear and tear after a small amount of usage, or are of such complicated design as to be not economically feasible to manufacture on a commercial basis and keep the price of the bench on a competitive basis. The present invention provides a method of securing the table top in a horizontal position, regardless of whether or not the supporting ground is horizontal. The invention also provides a fastening mechanism which is completely secure and does not permit any wobble or play in the top when it is in the horizontal position.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a convertible table wherein the table top is movable between a horizontal position and a retracted position for use as a bench back, wherein the table top can be stopped at any desired angle between the horizontal and fully retracted position. It is another object of the invention to provide a continuously adjustable fastening mechanism for securing the table top at any desired attitude without permitting any looseness or play in the structure. It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a convertible table/bench which is easy to manufacture and simple to operate, and which can be shipped unassembled and readily put together by the user. These and other objects of the invention are achieved by the design of the convertible bench/table, an embodiment of which is hereinafter disclosed.